Clothing with adhesively applied bodying layer



A. D. GUSMAN July 23, 1963 CLOTHING WITH ADHESIVELY APPLIED BODYING LAYER Filed Dec. 10, 1959 PRIOR ART INVENTOR. ALBERT a 605mm 5. Maya ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,098,235 CLOTHING WITH ADHESIVELY APPLIED BODYING LAYER Albert D. Gusman, 300 Central Park W., New York, N.Y. Filed Dec. 10, 1959, Ser. No. 858,728 3 Claims. (Cl. 2--97) This invention relates to articles of apparel and, more particularly, to improved bodying layers for such :garments and to an improved method of making such layers and the garments incorporating such layers.

In the manufacture of articles of apparel, such as mens and womens jackets, coats, raincoats and the like, bodying layers or fronts have been employed to give the outer fabric the desired drape, hand and stylish appearance. The front known to the art comprises a base canvas or haircloth, a breast or chest piece and a felt piece.

The base canvas or haircloth is a woven material generally including horsehair or other animal hair for body and strength. The haircloth is substantially a full lining material, being cut to the outline dimensions of the garment such as a mans jacket. To shape the garment and to give the desired resiliency, a smaller chest piece is provided. The chest piece is usually a woven fabric darted to the desired shape. The chest piece is attached to the haircloth by a plurality of parallel rows of stitching over the entire surface. A felt piece is usually applied over the chest piece for padding, to impart a smooth surface to the inside of the front, and to serve as a shield preventing the animal hairs in the haircloth from sticking the wearer. The felt piece may be stitched to the assembled haircloth and breast piece or the three fabrics may be stitched together simultaneously. In any case, a plurality of parallel rows of stitching is neces sary to prevent relative displacement of the respective layers during wear.

During fabrication of the front, shaping may be imparted by darting the hairpiece and the chest piece. The desired curves are then brought out by shaping irons.

Such fronts have not been entirely satisfactory. Handling of the multiple layers of fabric during stitching unduly increases the cost of the suit front. Further, during the life of the garment, puckering or rippling of the interlining due to variation in shrinkage between the respective materials forming the front as well as variation in shrinkage between each material and the thread used for stitching thereof adversely effect the appearance of the suiting.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a front which can be assembled without stitching.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved method of fabricating fronts and the wearing apparel using such fronts.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a front which does not require padding such as a felt piece.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved front manufacturable in more economic fashion.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an improved front including an isoelastic fabric bonded at discrete, separated points.

This invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying description and accompanying drawings of which:

FIGURE 1 is a partially sectioned plan view showing a front constructed in accordance with the prior art.

FIGURE 2 is a partially sectioned plan view of a front fabricated in accordance with this invention, and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the material in construction of the front shown in FIG- URE 2.

3,098,235 Patented July 23, 1963 In FIGURE 1 there is shown a front fabricated in accordance with the prior art. The front -10 comprises a base canvas of haircloth 12. woven generally from horsehair or other animal hair although jute fabrics and other fabrics have been used. A breast piece 14 is applied to reinforce and to shape the front. Shaping may be effected by darts 16 cut therein which shaping may be brought out by shaping irons. The breast piece is also usually a woven material.

The breast piece is then covered with a felt piece 18 to provide padding and body to the suit front and simultaneously to prevent the hair fibers, such as horsehair fibers, from sticking the wearer of the suit.

Each of the fabrics are held together in the desired orientation by a plurality of stitches 20 run over the entire material. The stitches are usually taken in parallel rows of pik-ier stitches about a centimeter apart.

In addition to the expense of handling the pieces and stitching the pieces together, the stitches will usually cause rippling or puckering of the material, particularly during use thereof. It has been found impossible to ensure that each layer of material and the thread used to stitch the layers together have exactly the same shrinkage characteristics which would be necessary to avoid relative shrinkage therebetween.

A front constructed in accordance with this invention is shown in FIGURE 2.

In FIGURE 2 there is shown a front 22 which comprises a base canvas or hairpiece '24 and a chest piece 26 secured thereto in manner which will be described in detail in subsequent portions of the specification.

The chest piece is preferably a non-woven fabric formed from long-staple, crimped synthetic fibers bonded together in a resilient, porous thin sheet by a latex rubber binder. The method of manufacturing such fabric is described in US. Patents Nos. 2,719,795, 2,719,802 and 2,719,806.

The non-woven material is both resilient and isoelastic. The resiliency prevents wrinkling and the like. The isoelastic properties, that is the property of stretching the same amount in response to the same pull despite the direction of pull, provides support for shaping of the garment. The two properties provide the hand, loft or padding properties desired in the finished garment.

The chest piece is bonded to the base canvas at separated discrete points by thermoplastic pellets 28 bonded to both the chest piece and the base canvas.

The pellets hold the chest piece in the proper position. The separated bonding positions ensure that the chest piece supports the base canvas with the resiliency of the chest piece fabric. The support between the bonding positions is afforded by the isoelastic stretch characteristics of the non-woven fabric. The separated bonds thus give the front the hand, loft and feel desired.

The bonds must be spaced sufliciently closely together to provide the requisite mechanical strength. However, the closeness of the bond affects the stiffness of the front. For example, if the layers were bonded over the entire interface, the front would be very stiff and unsuitable for wearing apparel. It has been found preferable to distribute the thermoplastic pellets so that ap proximately 50 percent of the material surface is bonded. Such distribution provides the requisite bond strength without adversely affecting the hand of the material.

It will be noted that the chest piece can be shaped by darting before bonding of the chest piece to the hairpiece. The isoelastic properties of the chest piece allow darting without regard to fabric orientation. The woven chest piece known to the art must be oriented for darting since the stretch characteristics vary with the direction of pull; that is, the woven fabric is more resistant to a pull along the warp or woof than on the cross.

The method of forming the fabric for the chest piece may best be understood by reference to FIGURE 3.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown the fabric 30 composed of long-staple, highly crimped synthetic fibers, bonded together by a binder into a resilient, isoelastic fabric in the manner described in US. Patents Nos. 2,719,795, 2,719,802 and 2,719,806.

The material is preferably formed of long-staple, crinrped nylon fibers bonded by latex and formed in a sheet between 25 and 75 mil thickness.

A plurality of thermoplastic pellets 28 are dusted or salted on one surface thereof. The pellets or pebbles are formed of thermoplastic material. Polyethylene pebbles have been found satisfactory. The melt index of the thermoplastic pebbles can be adjusted for application intended. Materials having a low melt index will fuse at a lower temperature, but the bond cannot be subjected to high temperatures in use, such as in cleaning and drying thereof. It has been found that melt indexes in the range of 20() are satisfactory for most applications. A specific type of pebble found satisfactory was formed from polyethylene with a melt index of 70 and /a polyethylene with a melt index of 20.

After dusting, the material is fed through a heating oven having a temperature-time cycle adjusted to lightly melt the surface of the pellets fusing them to the fiber of the material. The light fusing does not destroy the pellet-shape and they are visible as a salting of pellets on the surface. The pellets are fused so as to prevent handling from *dislodging the pellets from the material surface.

To fabricate a suit front in accordance with this invention, the pelletized non-woven fabric is cut to the desired outline shape for the chest piece. After shaping of the chest piece by darting, the chest piece is applied to the hairpiece, cut to desired outline shape and darted if desired, with the pelletized surface in contact therewith. The chest piece is then bonded to the hairpiece by melting the pellets to fuse the pellets to both the hairpiece and the chest piece. The bonding may conveniently be effected by the shaping iron during pressing of the front.

Thus, the method of assembling the front in accordance with this invention is simple and provides an improved front. It is only necessary to properly locate the chest piece with respect to the hairpiece and to press the pieces by an iron of the temperature to fuse the pellets. The chest piece gives the requisite smoothness and padding, thus eliminating the need for a felt piece.

The bond is adequate to prevent separation over the lift of the garment. Since the pellets are thermoplastic, even if a separation occurs, the bond is automatically renewed during pressing of the garment.

The resilient pad gives the improved shaping, resiliency and loft to the article of apparel in which the front is used.

If the base canvas or hairpiece is a woven material, the front is stitched to the outer fabric and lining in conventional fashion. I have found that it is often advantageous to use the pelletized non-woven material for the base canvas or haircloth. In such cases, after bonding of the chest piece thereto, front is bonded to the outer fabric in the manner outlined above.

In addition to the elimination of manufacturing steps in accordance with the method of this invention, an improved front and article of apparel is produced. The bond not only eliminates the problem of rippling and puckering, but also does not interfere with the breathing attributes of the fabric. Further, the material gives the article of apparel a better hand.

This invention may be variously embodied and modified within the scope of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An article of apparel comprising a base fabric cut to the desired pattern and a bodying layer bonded thereto by thermoplastic pellets having a melt index between 20 and 200, said pellets being positioned at discrete, separated locations and fused to the mating surfaces of both the bodying layer and the base fabric, the separation between adjacent pellets being greater than the major dimension of the pellets so that approximately 50% of the material surface is bonded together by the fused pellets and so that the fabric may be flexed against the weave of the fabric without physical contact of adjacent pellets.

2. An article of apparel in accordance with claim 1 in which said bodying layer comprises a non-woven, resilient, isoelastic fabric of long-staple, crimped synthetic fibers bonded together by a latex binder in a sheet.

3. A coat front comprising a base fabric cut to the desired pattern and a bodying layer bonded thereto by thermoplastic pellets having a melt index between 20 and 200, said pellets being positioned at a discrete, separated locations and fused to both the bodying layer and the base fabric, said bodying layer comprising a non-woven resilient iso-elastic fabric, said thermoplastic pellets being distributed so that approximately 50% of the material surface is bonded together.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,258,100 Reiss et al Oct. 7, 1941 2,489,466 Schramm Nov. 29, 1949 2,616,482 Barnes Nov. 4, 1952 2,719,803 Nottebohm Oct. 4, 1955 2,774,074 Lehmann Dec. 18, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,198,436 France June 15, 1959 730,736 Great Britain May 25, 1955 

1. AN ARTICLE OF APPAREL COMPRISING A BASE FABRIC CUT TO THE DESIRED PATTERN AND A BODYING LAYER BONDED THERETO BY THERMOPLASTIC PELLETS HAVING A MELT INDEX BETWEEN 20 AND 200, SAID PELLETS BEING POSITIONED AT DISCRETE, SEPARATED LOCATIONS AND FUSED TO THE MATING SURFACES OF BOTH THE BODYING LAYER AND THE BASE FABRIC, THE SEPARATION BETWEEN ADJACENT PELLETS BEING GREATER THAN THE MAJOR DIMENSION OF THE PELLETS SO THAT APPROXIMATELY 50% OF THE MATERIAL SURFACE IS BONDED TOGETHER BY THE FUSED PELLETS 